In addition to registration in the federal government’s vendor registration system — the System for Award Management (SAM) — the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends that businesses register in FEMA’s own database.

There’s the rub.

If businesses don’t know how to access FEMA’s vendor database, they sometimes stumble into privately-operated websites which charge upwards of $500 to register. In actuality, it’s free to register in FEMA’s official database.

Completion of FEMA’s official Vendor Profile Form serves as supplemental market research for the agency — so they have detailed capabilities descriptions on companies — better enabling FEMA to respond in emergencies. In completing FEMA’s form, vendors are encouraged to be specific about how your products and/or services can support FEMA’s mission. The official Vendor Profile Form can be accessed at: https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/29748. Once completed, the Form should be submitted to: FEMA-Industry@fema.dhs.gov

FEMA does not charge any company a registration fee. FEMA advises that “there are companies that replicate services of Federal Government entities and there are typically fees associated with their services. Most Federal Government services, if not all, are free of charge. Always make it a practice to reach out to the appropriate Federal agency first to inquire about the validity of the service, specifically if a fee is associated with it.”

To reiterate: FEMA does not charge a fee to submit a Vendor Profile Form.